Unborn child needs protection 'from its first months'

Children's Commissioner Sonia Camilleri yesterday said there needs to be more awareness about the need to protect the unborn child in the first months of gestation.

She pointed out that people seemed more prepared to accept that an unborn child has rights towards the end of gestation. However, this was the same person only a few months' before.

She also stressed the importance of protecting the mother throughout pregnancy, adding that excess stress could lead to problems for the child including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

On the occasion of World Children's Day Mrs Camilleri yesterday received a visit from a pregnant mother, who was part of a delegation led by the Movement for the Well-Being of the Unborn Child made up of 42 national organisations, including the three political parties and trade unions.

More mothers were expected to visit the Children's Commissioner but they failed to show up.

Movement coordinator Tony Mifsud said unborn babies deserve respect, appreciation and protection since they are a human being from conception.

He said research shows that the child's personality and character are well formed even before it is born when the parents accept it, love it and show it that they are doing this.

Mr Mifsud pointed to the harm done to the unborn child when the parents use illegal substances like drugs, alcohol and tobacco, or when the mother is exposed to toxic substances at work.

Earlier this year the movement drew up a charter on the rights, protection and development of the unborn child and sent it to European Commissioner for Justice Franco Frattini in June as Malta's contribution to the charter for children that the European Commission is currently preparing.